You are invited to an Artist Talk by Michael O’Keefe about his solo exhibition “Recent Work: Paintings | Drawings | Sculptures” on Saturday, March 22, 11:00am, at Valley House Gallery in Dallas, Texas.
Michael O’Keefe writes:
“As is characteristic of all of my work, the paintings, drawings, and sculptures in this exhibition are figurative, quietly expressive, and utilize a range of abstraction. The recent paintings allude to various archetypal themes, among them, the mythological narrative of Icarus—a narrative that symbolizes our irrepressible striving to transcend our earthly existence. In the Icarus paintings, I have portrayed this character suspended in a liminal space, free from hubris or defeat. In the latest drawings, intersecting figures reference the arboreal phenomenon of inosculation as a metaphor for the interconnectedness that necessarily grows out of the friction of human relationships. The recent sculptures consist of heads and figures constructed with colored plaster, using a new variation of this unique process. While the forms are mostly representational, the use of color is explicitly non-representational, adding a layer that is meant to be symbolically provocative.”
Born in 1977, in New Hampshire, Michael O’Keefe earned his MFA from Southern Methodist University and teaches at The O’Keefe Studio Center in Richardson, Texas. He completed a monumental bronze portrait of the pianist Van Cliburn in 2020, for the new Van Cliburn Concert Hall at TCU in Fort Worth. This is his eighth solo exhibition at Valley House Gallery.
View work in the exhibition on the Valley House Gallery website at https://www.valleyhouse.com/thumbnails.asp?mode=page&idx=290
View the exhibition on Artsy at https://www.artsy.net/…/valley-house-gallery-and…
Learn about Michael O’Keefe’s series “Conversations with Ancient Stones” at https://youtu.be/rRYOUhqDU4g
Learn about Michael O’Keefe’s “Portrait of Van Cliburn” at https://youtu.be/J0eii9Ug3TQ
The exhibition “Michael O’Keefe: Recent Work ( Paintings | Drawings | Sculptures )” is on view from February 22 through March 29, 2025, at Valley House Gallery, 6616 Spring Valley Road, Dallas, Texas. Gallery hours are 10:00am to 5:00pm, Monday through Saturday. Call 972-239-2441 or visit https://www.valleyhouse.com for information.
Image:
Michael O’Keefe, “Icarus (For Dorothea Tanning),” 2023, acrylic on canvas, 66 x 48 inches
Artist Talk by Michael O’Keefe – “Recent Work: Paintings | Drawings | Sculptures”
